Candles in the Wind: Part 1
by heyoimamockingjay
Summary: I had never felt so alone in my life. In District 12, atleast I had Gale. And the woods. But here, I didn't know anyone. Not even close to the boy with the bread. But when I talk to him, everything's right. When he smiles, I have no fears. When we are together, nothing else matters. Cato and I are a secret- the Capitol will try to blow us up. But they will not take our flame.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hello readers! THIS (if you don't know already) is the first chapter of my FIRST FANFIC! YAYYYY!  
****it will be split into two parts: before the games and during the games. after that, i mite post a sequel, depending on how much time i have.  
****and just so you guys know, the chapters get longer as you read on, with the exception of chapter 2, or unless i decide otherwise. there won't be alot of Cato/Katniss interaction in the chapters starting out, but there will be more! i promise! **

**Enjoy! ;)**

**-heyoimamockingjay**

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*-Chapter 1: The Eyes of the Devil-*

Flames. Everywhere.

They engulf me.

At first, I don't know what to think. If Cinna truly is a genius or if he is out to kill me before the games even start.

A hand slips through my own interrupting my thoughts, startling me. Instinctively, I slap it away.

"Don't worry; they'll love it," a soft voice speaks out.

I look into his eyes.

Warm, welcoming eyes.

They are baby blue- ironically like a baby's: sweet and sparkling. Those belonged to Peeta, my district partner. I let him grab my hand, and this time I hang on. Because in District 12, no one lent you a hand to hold.

It was every man for his own.

"Kat-niss! Kat-niss! Kat-niss! Kat-niss!" the Capitol citizens chanted. Cinna pops up in my mind and I hear him saying,

"Smile! They're going to love you!"

My lips start to crack a smile, but one thing stops me.

This is the Hunger Games.

The 74th Hunger Games.

They're waiting for you to die.

I start to blow kisses to the crowd instead, finding most of them trying to catch them aimlessly. This makes me smile, simply because it showed me of how stupid the Capitol is.

Our chariot came to a stop, along with the 11 others, in front of a very large podium. A plump man walks to the front of the podium and starts to greet us.

"Good evening, tributes, mentors, escorts. I welcome you to the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games!"

The crowd erupts into cheer and I know immediately that millions of pairs of eyes are bearing down into the back of my neck and head. But I feel a different pair of eyes dig into my left cheek and suddenly I'm too afraid to look into whose eyes they belong to. As the chariots pull into the Training Center, Cinna and Portia sprayed a substance on the flames behind us, extinguishing them right away. The doors to the Training Center close, and I swear I can hear sighs coming from the Capitol as it does. We are swamped by our prep teams immediately, taking off our big, heavy, leather jackets we were compelled to wear.

As Peeta is changing into more comfortable foot wear (he had complained endlessly about it, since the moment he stepped foot in them) I am told to turn my head so they can undo the thousands of pins and elastics in my hair. I turn my head only to be greeted by the pair of eyes that bore into my cheek earlier.

Brute, hard, merciless eyes pierce me once again, taking me aback.

I have to fight back or else I am to be considered weak. So I stare back, as hard as I can, back into his eyes. I release enough pressure from my own to realize that the colour of the opposite pair is blue.

But not like Peeta's.

Icy, cold, and chilling type of blue. But there's something else there, too. It's sickening, really. I don't realize what it is until I look away. Hurt. Sadness. Fear. I had narrowed my eyes, trying to identify what was in his eyes I saw. He gave me an un-forgiving smirk, showing his amusement in me trying to stare him down. He turns away, but only after raising an eyebrow and lifting a hand to wave at me. Right at that moment, I identified who it was.

Two.

I don't know what you want, but I will find out.

Sooner or later.

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**Thanks for reading the first chapter! Rate (i think) and Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: this is a reeaaaaaaaaaaallyyyyy short chapter, as i warned previously. i have until about chapter 6 written, but all i need to do is type them! i will get them up as soon as possible- the best is still to come! there won't be any Cato POV's until chapter 6, unfortunately. but things start to get interesting at around then, so be patient!**

**WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I GIVE YOU: chapter 2!**

**-heyoimamockingjay**

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*-Chapter 2: I promise-*

(FOUR HOURS LATER…)

That's it.

I can't do it anymore.

I just _can't._

I have to let it out.

I get up and pace around my room, sipping water. My mind can't stop thinking about tonight.

Those ice-cold blue eyes, hard and merciless. Yet how could they have so much hurt behind that thick brutal façade? How was it possible to be that scared inside the body of a ruthless killing machine trained to kill since he could walk? My mind continues to race at a thousand miles per hour. It becomes clear to me that my mind won't stop, but I hope to slow it down anyways.

My grey eyes dart around the room, thinking of something to tire my mind out. They land on a small, circular table in the corner of the room that I never noticed was there before. A plush chair is placed next to it, and a tall, white and purple flower sits on top of it in a light brown pot. A notepad and a pen are on the table too, untouched, probably collecting dust. I walk towards the chair and sit down, picking up the pen. It feels cool and slick in my hand. Without hesitating, I begin to write.

'"TWO": Eyes almost too strong to look at. Like nothing I've ever seen. Brutally blue. Icy, cold, hard, merciless stare, portraying a heartless, teenage killer. Like looking into the eyes of the devil-once you look, you can't keep your eyes off them. But this is nothing compared to what was underneath all the un-forgiving layers. Sadness and hurt flooded the inside of the poorly built barricade. The inside was strong, but you just had to know how to take down the wall. He knew this. And it scared him. A lot. I don't know why I, Katniss Everdeen, should, would, or could care, but there has to be more to the story than what I've seen. And I need to find it. I will. I promise.'

I'm not even conscious of what I'm writing until I actually read it, but by then, my mind is too tired to care.

The last thing I remember doing is tucking the slip of paper into my pajama pocket before flopping back into bed and drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

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**R/R! training center's next!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: hello again readers!  
****from the views I'm getting, it shows me that you guys love long chapters. HAVE NO FEAR! they are on their way!...i just have to type them...  
anyways, chapter 3 is 1,373 words long, so this should keep you guys busy.  
****Remember!: R/R! i have one review so far, can we see if we can bump it up higher? it would mean a lot to me if you did!****  
**

**Cheers!**

**-heyoimamockingjay**

**oh yeah, i forgot to put a disclaimer for the last two chapters, oopsies.**

**Disclaimer: The Hunger Games does not belong to me. It belongs to Suzanne Collins.**

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*-Chapter 3: Patience-*

Dawn arrives, waking me up unpleasantly. I squint as I get up to close the blinds. As I turn around, I look to the closet to find the outfit that has been laid out for me for training: black, stretchy pants that look like khakis and a black t-shirt streaked with grey and red. I slide them on and trudge to the bathroom, to carelessly splash water on my face. Good. At least my face is awake. After, I march out of my room down to breakfast, not caring if water drips down on my uniform. The Capitol has enough money. They can deal with it themselves.

I hungrily wolf down hot grain, lamb stew, and rolls, filling plate after plate full of the rich Capitol food. I have two hot chocolates for the whole meal, dipping bits of roll into it as I consume it. As I'm finishing my second hot chocolate along with my last few rolls, Effie, Haymitch, and Peeta walk in and take their seats at the dining table. Peeta spoons out his breakfast portions as Haymitch begins to instruct us on what to do in training.

"Do either of you want to be coached alone? Decide now, because this is your only option to while I'm sober," he says. Neither Peeta nor I say anything, so Haymitch continues.

"I want you two to stay glued by each other's side the whole time. Pretend to be friends. Hell, even strike up a conversation or two with another tribute, I don't care. But just stay together at all times, got it?"

Peeta nods, looking for my approval. But I begin to protest and question Haymitch.

"Why? Nobody else is going to be doing this, so why should we? And what does this accomplish, exactly?"  
"Trust me, you'll want each other's company in the Training Center,"  
"But as the days go by, won't we grow tired of each other?"  
"Look sweetheart, I don't have time for this, and I still have more to say. I'm the mentor for a reason. You haven't won these games-"  
"Yet,"

Haymitch takes a deep breath, signaling that he was ready to move on.

"Okay, so are we clear on the plan so far?"  
"What if we didn't follow your instructions? You would have no way of knowing if we did or didn't,"  
"I've got eyes on the back of my head, sweetheart. I know if you're doing something or not,"  
"Not with that flask, you do,"  
"Drunk or not, I'm not going too physicallykeep an eye on you. I've got my own _resources_," Haymitch's eyes flit to Peeta for a few seconds.

"Not if I get to him first," I say, challenging him.  
"Try me," he growls.

Peeta tries to change the subject.

"Um, Effie? When do we leave for the Training Center?"  
Effie responds not so perkily,  
"Five-to-ten, by the elevators,"

"Five-to-ten it is," I say through clenched teeth, keeping my eyes locked on Haymitch's.

"Have fun, sweetheart," he says, sarcasm oozing out of his voice.

I'm tired of this.

I stand up abruptly, slamming my palms down on the table. I nod to the rest of the witnesses of our conversation and say,

"Please excuse me, but I'm full. I've seemed to have lost my appetite. Have a nice meal,"

I grab a handful of rolls from the table to show that I'm excusing myself for a different reason storm of to my room for the next half hour.

As soon as I get to my room, I remember what I wrote down last night. I quickly find the pajamas from last night (fortunately, the Avoxes didn't take it) and felt around for the pocket I had left the paper in. the surface of the silk bottoms suddenly becomes crinkly and I know I've found it. I reach inside, retrieve the slip of paper, and read it to myself.

The memories of last night start to piece themselves together, and by the time I'm done reading, I remember everything.

Wait, what did I write at the end?

Did I just vow to figure out more about Two?

And at the end is that word, that same word I said to Prim. Why would it be any different here? I can keep a promise to Prim but not to myself? Fine. I'll do it. Or I'll try. But it won't be easy at all. I don't know what to do, so I try to occupy myself for the next fifteen minutes. I nibble at the rolls I took when I left breakfast and doodle on the notepad.

I'm not even conscious of what's on the paper when Cinna walks in. We greet each other, and he starts up a conversation.

"Katniss, why did you act out on Haymitch?"  
I don't look up, but I stammer,  
"I-I don't know,"  
"But he's right. He's had more experience. This is only your first time."  
"But why didn't his plan work for all the other tributes?"  
"You mean in previous years?" Cinna asks. I nod.  
"He's told all of us his plan for this year. It's different from all the rest, that's for sure. He sees potential in you two. That's why he bothered giving you his advice,"  
"Isn't that what he's supposed to do?"  
"Yes, but he wouldn't usually give this much information this early,"  
"So you mean to tell me that I've missed that much?"

Cinna chuckles at this and says,

"No, but the best is still to come, Katniss. You just have to be patient,"

I don't know how to respond to this, but deep down, I know this is true.

I'm finishing my last roll as Cinna says, "It's almost time to go. How 'bout I walk you down to the elevator?"

I give a silent nod, and we get up and walk to the elevator without a word.

Peeta and Portia arrive a few seconds later, and Portia says to us,

"You kids can go down when you're ready. Effie isn't feeling to well- she told me to tell you. Would you like us to escort you there instead?"

I speak on behalf of Peeta and me.

"No thanks. We can hold our own. But thank you for the offer,"

Portia smiles.

"No problem! The Training Center is on your left when you get down there. Have fun kids!" she says cheerfully.

I do my best to return her smile.

They leave as Peeta and I get on the elevator. As soon as the doors shut, I speak.

"Say anything to Haymitch, and the first thing I'll be doing in the arena is slitting your throat. I hope we're clear on that,"

Before Peeta has a chance to respond, the elevator stops. Peeta thinks we've arrived, and he takes a step forward. I put a hand on his chest, holding him back. When I remove my hand, the elevator doors split open and I freeze.

The eyes dig into my own immediately, nearly causing me to collapse. I hold onto the railing for support.

For Capitol standards, this elevator is pretty small, and soon, we are all crammed into the elevator, almost touching. He stands next to me, taking up most of my space with his muscles. He glances down at me and something lurches in my stomach. I think the lamb stew is starting to protest about the second cup of hot chocolate.

The monster in front of me crosses his arms, doubling the original size of his muscles. I flatten myself against the corner, giving myself as much space as possible away from him. But his biceps have always been pressed against my shoulder. I shift uncomfortably in my spot and look up at him. He feels me moving and looks back at me and smirks. He still doesn't move from his position. After what seems like forever, the doors open to the Training Center. I realize I've been holding my breath and I let it out in a big sigh, only audible for Two's ears. Before he gets off, he smiles comically and pats my cheek softly twice. Then he stalks off the elevator and joins his district partner.

This may be easier than I thought.

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**Thanks for reading! i promise to get a few more chapters written tomorrow. Good night!**

**R/R... :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So this chapter's not that long... i just realized. :/ and i haven't been getting any reviews! i know it's alot to ask for, but reviews would bring an immediate smile to my face!  
****but anyways, this is the part where things start to get good, so sit back, relax, and enjoy!**

**-heyoimamockingjay**

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*-Chapter 4: Desperation-*

We, along with District Two, are the first to arrive in the Training Center. It is a huge gym with high ceilings and concrete walls. I look around to see what I have to train with. There is an area with a grassy ground, which I guess is for camouflage or fire making. There are big, dark screens with keyboards attached to it with characters on each key, but it's too far for me to make out the exact shape of them. A large obstacle course with platforms at different levels is against the far wall to my left. On my right, there are climbing exercises from ladders to ropes to monkey bars. There are also a few other things there, like knot-tying, but what stands out the most are the weapons- all arranged carefully on each rack, glistening in the electrical lights above.

The swords sit next to mannequins in pods. The knives are plentiful, of all shapes and sizes. The spears are so sharp they look as if they've never been used, or touched. But above all the rest, one thing, one weapon, stood out from all the rest. Sitting on racks in the corner, are my bow and arrows. They sat there, untouched, probably getting all dusty.

I start to imagine them in my hands, slick metal chilling my fingers. I'm pulling back the arrow, strung perfectly on the string, and the feather on the back tickles my cheek and I shiver. I take my aim at the target…

A big, muscular body interrupts my gaze between me and my bow, and immediately I blink and look down. At least I know where I'm going to visit first.

"So, the fire girl can shoot, eh?"

I look up again to find the muscular body that interrupted my gaze.

"What's it to you, Two?" I shoot at him.

"Oh, nothing… it's just having someone that can kill from a distance on hand would be nice, ya know?" he responds as if it were the normal thing to say.

"I think you'll find that spears are more your forte. So I suggest you stick with that," in my head, I thank myself for having a quick tongue.

"True, but what use does it have if you have no one who can throw a decent one?" he asks back.  
Not bad, Two. Not bad.

"You've been training for this your whole life. You expect me to believe you can't throw a spear?" I fire back.

"Oh, you don't know that. I could've been training for only a week and I still would've been chosen to volunteer. I still would've looked the same way I do now-"he flexes his muscles"-and you would have been saying the exact same thing," he smirks.  
Damn, he's good.

"What is it you want, Two?" I say with a big sigh. I'm fed up with this.

"Cato. That's my name. Not my district number," He declares firmly.

"Alright then, Cato- are you going to answer my question or not?" I put extra emphasis on his name.

"Yes."

"Okay, I'm waiting," I say impatiently.

He thinks for a moment, crossing his arms and showing his muscles. God, I hate it when he does that. It's like he's trying to impress me…

Wait, is he?

I quickly push the thought out of my mind.

_Focus, Katniss, _I tell myself.

_This is one of the twenty-three kids plotting to kill you._

"Well?" I say to try and keep my mind distracted.

Tributes are starting to file in, but this doesn't seem to bother me. Cato seems to get more self-conscious though, and tenses up. He looks around nervously, then lowers his voice and says,

"At the knot-tying station after lunch, if you're that eager,"

Finally, I have the courage to look into his eyes.

Those icy blue eyes freeze me into place and they're nothing like what I saw at the tribute parade. Somehow, a fire was burning inside of him. I could practically see the sparks fly out of his eyes at me. They were warm, not like Peeta's, and certainly not comforting. They were just… well, warm.

And then something pops up in his eyes for just a moment, and then disappears. A flash of… what?

Honesty? Amusement? Fear?

I'm about to respond when he blinks and turns around to join his district partner. I look down at the ground again to try and register what that was I saw.

If I recall, his voice almost cracked. It was all shaky, too. I didn't see any of that last night…

It takes me a moment to realize that what I saw was desperation.

Had he wanted to talk to me for that long?

"Hey, Katniss? Are you feeling okay?" A voice says.

I realize its Peeta. He's been talking to me this whole time.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say, still slipping back into reality.

"Anyways, Haymitch wanted me to tell you-" he starts but I cut him off.

"I don't take advice from Haymitch,"

"Katniss, he's our mentor. I think we'd have a better chance at living if we listened," he says boldly.

"Mentor, my ass. He's as crazy as any other drunk back home," I say.

Before he can respond, I turn around and rejoin the rest of the tributes.

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**R/R! next chapter I KNOW FOR A FACT is longer.  
Stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: yayyy! i got the chapter up quickly!  
****okay, so it isn't exactly as long as chapter 3, but its only about a hundred words less. This is probably one of my favourite chapters so far, not only because it's the most recent, but because it has the most going on than the rest of the chapters!**

**hope you can keep up with my writing! ;)**

**-heyoimamockingjay**

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*-Chapter 5: Shoot for us-*

Atala, the head trainer, explains to us the importance of each station, reminding us exposure kills just as easily as a knife. Then she leads us through each 'compulsory exercise'. The first one is the obstacle course with rising and falling platforms at different speeds. The call it the Gauntlet. We start to line up for it, and coincidentally, Cato ends up behind me and Peeta in front of me.

I watch as tributes hop around on it, trying to avoid the rubber clubs swung at them. Most of them received two- three solid hits. Some people get injured, and the poor girl from District 3 goes down hard and sprains her ankle.

When it is my turn, my palms get all sweaty and I start to pace uncomfortably. A low, slimy voice hisses in my ear and I freeze.

"Break a leg, fire girl," the voice says tauntingly. It takes me a moment to realize the voice belongs to Cato. Before I take off, I turn around and narrow my eyes at him.

"Oh, I'll need all the help I can get," I spit at him.

"Better hurry up, twelve- bread boy's waiting for you," he sneers.

"It's Katniss. Not my district number," I shoot back, mimicking his tone from earlier.

"Oooh, we have a mockingjay right here!" he teases.

I roll my eyes at him and start on the Gauntlet. I get grazed a couple of times on my ankles, but near the end I hear Cato, not far behind.

"Hurry up, Catnip, or you're gonna kill us both," he grunts.

Suddenly, I'm back in District 12 with Gale in the woods.

"_Hey Catnip… What's up Catnip… Catnip, what's wrong, Katniss got your tongue?"_ I think back to all the times he called me by that name.

But only _he _uses 'Catnip'. No one else.

_Especially _this beast. He shouldn't even be-

My thoughts are interrupted when a rubber club hits my thigh, staggering me off balance. I sprint across the little remaining platforms, not caring if I get nailed again. I jump off the end, landing so hard on the ground that my feet started to ache. I spin around only to see Cato whizzing past me in the air, landing beside me like a cat.

"Listen Cato, you do not call me that again. I don't know what the hell dawned on you, but you will never say that name again in your goddamn life. Get it? Got it?" I say through clenched teeth. He begins to talk, but without hearing his response I cut him off.

"Good."

I stomp off to the next exercise, not regretting anything I said.

The next two exercises are a breeze. I fly through them no problem, looking up at the Gamemakers occasionally to see them nodding in approval. When we are finally dismissed to do our own thing, I am having second thoughts about heading to the archery station. Do I really want to reveal my strength to the whole gym? To the Careers? I pause for a moment, and the thought hits me:

_Do I really want to trust Cato?_

I settle on going to throw some knives, which I discover that I'm not too bad at, and I even manage to hit the center of the target a few times. The girl from District Two notices and says,

"You're quite good for an underdog,"

"Funny, coming from you- I'd expect you to be more like Cato,"

"Honey, trust me, he has a mind of his own," she responds unevenly, whilst throwing knives. She never misses, I swear to God. I give it another try, and my knife just misses the bulls-eye.

"So, I hear you can shoot," she says changing the topic.

"I never said anything- it was all assumed," I say, a little too defensively.

"Judging from your tone of voice, now I know the assumption is correct," she smirks.

Dammit, Everdeen, you've done it now.

"Even if it was, I wouldn't just go shoot in front of you willingly. You can't force me to do that," I say, still desperately trying to cover it up.

"I can't, but I know someone who can," she says, keeping the smirk plastered on her face. She glances behind her to the archery station, and I see a girl with white-blond hair, who I recognize is from District One, shooting arrows. She manages to hit the target a few times, but other than that it's clear that she can't handle a bow. The girl beside me whistles over to her and calls, "Glimmer! Get your pretty face down here!"

Glimmer finishes shooting her arrow and it somehow hits the center of the target. She squeals with delight and trots over to us happily. Ugh. I hate her name. What kind of a name is that anyways?

"Eeeek! Clove! OMG! Did you see that? I hit the bulls-eye! And-" she stops rambling when she sees me. She changes her expression right away into a sneer.

"Why the hell is _she _here?" she spits out slowly. I have to smirk at this, and I can't help but say,

"I could ask you the same thing, _Princess,_" slowly emphasizing the last word.

Her face starts to get red with anger and I'm sure she was going to blow through the roof if Clove didn't interrupt first.

"Anyways, we've been noticing your archery skills, and you've got them down cold,"

"Down cold. Psh," I scoff.

"Well, how else would you describe it?" Glimmer says with so much attitude it bugs me.

"You couldn't kill with a bow if your life depended on it…-oh wait- IT DOES," this completely rubs her the wrong way, and- did I just hear what I think I heard? I'm surprised she even dared to say it- she says,

"I'd like to see you do better,"

"How 'bout let's not and say we did, hm?" This seems to give her more power and I know I've said the wrong thing.

"You volunteered for your sister? I bet she could've done a better job than you, pathetic twat!" she begins to raise her voice.

"Don't bring my sister into this. You don't even know Prim," I saw through gritted teeth.

Finally, she shoves the bow into my arms, and I stumble back. She smirks, then hisses at me,

"Go on. Shoot for us, '_girl on fire'_. Make my day,"

By now, the Careers, and the tributes on our side of the gym have fallen silent. They have all turned to look at Glimmer and me. Even the trainers paid attention.

I look around to the faces of the other tributes. Mostly nonchalant and blank faces. Peeta wasn't among them, thankfully. Some of them look amused, some of them worried. But the Careers were filled with mixed emotions. Clove looked at me and smiled as if I were an old friend, or if this was all normal. Glimmer's district partner looked more than interested and raised an eyebrow at me. And Glimmer, well, she was amused, angry and scared at the same time, if that was even possible.

When I look at Cato, I see those warm eyes again. But instead of them just being warm, they're somehow comforting. What he does next surprises me a great deal. It makes my stomach churn, but gives me a surge of confidence.

He smiles easily and winks at me.

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**Thoughts on this chapter? Mention it in a review! btw i take constructive critisism, so if you want to give me some, feel free to send me a PM.**

**Pce guys! R/R!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'M SO PROUD OF THIS CHAPTER ITS SUPER LONG AND IT HAS CATO POV'S IN IT!  
Katniss and Cato POV's are sort of bouncing back and forth, but its totally worth it!  
thank you to the TWO PEOPLE that reviewed, especially InLoveWithHG, because you reviewed not one, not two, but ALL of my chapters! SHANK YOO!**

**Anyways, here's chapter 7. hope you enjoy :)**

**-heyoimamockingjay**

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*-Chapter 6: The Pact-*

_C'mon Katniss, this is no different than when you're at home. Just shoot a few arrows, and that'll be the end of it._

I'm still pretty dazed at Cato's wink, but not enough to break my concentration. I take the bow from Glimmer and I say quietly,

"I think I will,"

She smiles smugly and steps aside, clearing the path between me and the arrows in the corner. I slowly walk towards it, trying to scrape together the courage and confidence Cato gave me.

_I can do this._

I take an arrow off the rack- the metallic surface is cool and feels good in my hand. I string the arrow on my bow, and now they are in sync, no longer just a bow, or just an arrow. I start to pull back but I notice the string is strung tighter than my bow at home is. I try to pull back as far as I normally do, but when I release the string, the arrow cuts through the air and hit the target a few feet away from the target. I'm gawking at the arrow with my mouth in the shape of an 'o', and then Glimmer snickers and jeers,

"Is that all you got, Twelve?"

"You haven't seen anything yet, Glimmer," I say her name with disgust and grab another arrow.

Some of the tributes have lost interest when I shot that last arrow, but I wasn't about to let that bother me.

I string the bow, and this time when I pull back I've gotten used to the new bow. The feather on the end of the arrow tickles against my cheek, making me shiver, just like I envisioned it earlier. I pull back the string and it releases with a clean snap. The arrow cuts through the air once again and plunges straight into the center of the target.

_Bulls-eye._

I smirk and look at Glimmer, who looks uneasy.

"Lucky shot," she mutters to me, still looking at the target.

I take five steps back and shoot two more arrows, which I don't bother concentrating very much on, and they have the same result. Now it's Glimmer's turn to gawk at the arrows.

"Lucky shot, you say?"

* * *

Cato's POV

* * *

She's interesting, that one.

Oh yes, she volunteers for her sister, then tries to stare me down. After that, she basically reveals that she can shoot an arrow, showed up to Glimmer and proved that Glimmer can't shoot at all.

_This is going to be one hell of a show._

I throw my spear and it sails straight into the center of the target. That makes thirteen bulls-eyes in a row. I see Katniss staring at me, and once I meet her eyes, she goes back to throwing knives, which she isn't too bad at. She manages to hit the target each time, and even hits the occasional bulls-eye.

Clove catches me watching and smirks. I give her the look we both know means I'm growling, and I about to "bark". She gives a light laugh and continues hitting the center of the target with knives.

I throw spears until I reach twenty perfect throws. I switch to hand-to-hand combat with one of the trainers and I easily wrestle him to the ground. I go back to sword training and pierce a few more dummies in the heart, exactly how I would've done it at the academy back home. I move swiftly, be-heading those giant plastic dolls, lost in my own world. I think of nothing but my sword and I right up until our lunch break.

* * *

Katniss's POV

* * *

I'm still full by the time lunch comes around, so I grab an apple to boost my energy for the afternoon.

I didn't like the idea of eating my "lunch" by myself, so Peeta and I agree to sit together. When I finish my apple, the bread in the basket seems tempting, so I pick out a crescent shaped roll lined and dotted with different types of seeds and take a big bite into it.

"That bread is from District 11, agriculture," I hear Peeta say, and I remember the whole 'pretending to be friends' thing. So I act like I'm interested, and he takes it as an honest sign and continues to explain where all the breads come from.

"And then there's the green seaweed rolls from District 4…"

Eventually, I just tune Peeta out with my own thoughts, because he is actually starting to become annoying.

Should I learn to trust Cato? Is he just using me, or taking advantage of me? What does he want, exactly? There's only one way to find out, and that's if I meet him after lunch, like he said. But I still don't know if I want to trust him. I mean, he's still a Career. But he's been nothing but nice to me… sort of. He hasn't really done anything bad… _yet. _

But this is the Hunger Games. I guess it wouldn't be if we didn't take risks, right?

* * *

Cato's POV

* * *

I munch on carrot sticks while listening to Marvel, telling sick jokes. Some of them were actually pretty funny, but other than that, they were (this means something coming from me) disgusting.

"So, Mary has a sleeping problem, causing her to fall asleep every thirty minutes. She-"

"Marvel, please, I don't want to hear about Mary's sleeping problem. I don't care," I snap at him, cutting him off.

"Aw, Cato, c'mon man- it's the last one, I-" this time, he is cut off by Glimmer.

"-Said that five minutes ago," she finishes the sentence for him. Marvel slumps back down in his chair and fiddles with his spaghetti while sulking. The four of us sit in an awkward silence, nibbling away at our food, not knowing what to say.

Finally, Clove speaks up, breaking the silence, making her first sound since we sat down.

"So, is this all the people who are going to be in the pact this year, or do you guys have any ideas?"

Marvel is the first to respond.

"I think the guy from eleven looks like a keeper,"

"You mean Thresh? I ask. "Well then, who wants to ask him?"

None of us raises our hands.

"Alrighty then, we'll take a vote. Who wants Clove to ask?" No one raises their and she smirks.

"What about Glimmer?"

"Can you only vote once?" Clove asks.

"Maximum two, minimum one," I say in response. "Now for Glimmer?"

Clove and Marvel raise their hand.

"Are you guys kidding me? No, way," she responds like a diva.

"For me?" I say, ignoring her.

Marvel keeps his hand raised.

"Alright, and for-" I don't even have to say his name before all of us except for Marvel lift our hands in the air.

"Looks like you're the chosen one, bud," I say jokingly.

"Yeah, Yeah. I'll do it later," He says, dismissing the topic of asking Thresh.

There is silence for a few seconds when Clove picks at the food on her plate and says quietly, still looking down,

"I think fire girl's okay."

* * *

Katniss's POV

* * *

I take a deep breath as we clear out the cafeteria. I'm still reluctant to go see Cato. I know if I want to learn more about what happened on the first night, then I should. He's still a Career, but this we aren't in the arena yet, so he can't do any real harm to me… can he?

We file back into the training gym, and Atala gathers us in another semi-circle around her. All she does is remind us not to forget about the survival/defense stations.

At last, she dismisses us, and I walk slowly to the knot-tying station.

I talk to the trainer, and I tell him I know a few basic snares. He shows me a trap that leaves opponents dangling from one foot in the air. As I struggle to tie a proper noose, my mind is occupied by something else: Where is Cato?

I eventually let it go and focus whole-heartedly on my noose. After all, he might not show up. Just as I was about to pull through the toughest part, I hear a voice say, "Hey," and I look up. Sure enough, it's Cato, and he looks a little nervous.

"Hi," I say back.

"So you decided to show," he grins.

"Uh, yeah, here I am," I respond reluctantly.

I look down at my noose and see that the ropes are all messed up. I try and undo the knots that have formed, but only to end up tightening them and I frown.

Cato inevitably notices and says,

"Now what are we doing here?"

He bends down and assesses the situation I'm in.

"Was it a noose?" he asks. I nod wordlessly.

"Here, let me fix it up for you," he reaches over and expertly unties the knots in my ropes. Then he takes my fingers and shows me what to do to complete the noose. His fingers brush over mine over and over again. He doesn't seem bothered by this, but I can tell he notices a fair amount.

"And there you have it," he says calmly. The noose is ties perfectly, and I don't even have to try it out to make sure it works- I already know it does.

"Thank you," I say, looking into his eyes.

Strength, courage, reassurance, and genuine… happiness? Kindness? This time I had no clue. But I liked it, and I couldn't bring myself to look away. We stay like that, looking into each other's eyes, for another minute or so, and then he ends it and he looks down and says,

"Sorry,… um, I have the answer to your question. The- one that you asked earlier,"

"My question?- oh yeah," I say, popping back into reality.

"So we were discussing the Pact at lunch," he says slowly but nervously.

"You mean the Careers?" I ask. I have a strange feeling where this is going.

"Yeah, whatever you want to call it… Anyways, since you showed that you are decent with a bow and arrow- nice shooting by the way- I was wondering if-" he is suddenly cut off by the trainer.

"It seems like my pupil has mastered the noose. Will that be all this afternoon or would you like to learn more?"

I decide to continue on with the lesson, and Cato plays along with it. I'm pretty sure he already knows how to tie this complicated snare. Gale mentioned a snare similar to this one, when he was giving me lessons in the woods.

I struggle with the rope for a bit, and then the snare has been decently set. As I finish, Cato drops the question on me like a bomb and I nearly get my hand snared.

"Will you join our Pact, 'Girl on Fire'?"

* * *

**so, what do you think? tell he in a PM or a review! Cheers!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Here's chapter 7 for ya! and i am PROUD to say that this chapter has reached over 2000 words! I BROKE THE RECORD AGAIN :P  
just a little warning, after tomorrow, i might not update until tuesday or wednesday, because i have a thingy going on with my dad that goes on for three days.**

**anyways, enjoy!**

**-heyoimamockingjay**

* * *

*-Chapter 7: It's not like we're in Love-*

"_Will you join the Pact, 'Girl on Fire'?"_

I look at him with wide, glassy eyes, speechless. My palms are starting to sweat again, and I ball them into fists in my lap.

Did he just ask me to join the Careers?

No, he asked you to _become _a Career. Become one of those bloodthirsty, brutal, unforgiving killers who make sure no death goes by quick and easy.

_And they won't take no for an answer._

I choke on the word no, but only because something's bugging at me to say yes. Deep down it lunges at me, and I know it isn't just because of my need to get home to Prim. It is something I could never explain, to anybody, in fact, and I know for sure that it is coming from someplace other than my mind.

"So, Katniss, is that a yes or a no?" Cato says, his voice snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Who's the l-leader this year?"

"Me," he says proudly. He looks extremely arrogant and cocky at this point, almost to a point that it looks natural. I haven't yet seen this side of him, ever, and it surprises me a great deal.

Clove's words push their way through my thoughts, and I can almost hear them clearly.

"_Honey, trust me, he has a mind of his own,"_

Was this what she was talking about?

_Is he trying to hide the real Cato from me?_

"H-how long do I-I have to decide?" I ask hesitantly, suddenly uneasy about why he might be hiding something from me.

He lightly chuckles at me, and I glare at him. _I'm dead serious about this, Cato. Don't laugh, because there's nothing funny about my life and death situation, which you seemed to have put me in._

"Nervous much?" he teases. I decide to just let it go instead of going all ape-shit on him.

"Thank you for your consideration," I say sarcastically, and I stand up to leave.

"Wait," Cato says abruptly and he grabs hold of my wrist. I look around to make sure no one's looking directly at us. Now I know why he chose the knot-tying station.

"I will answer your question, but I also have questions of my own, and if you wouldn't mind, provide some answers to them,"

I look down at him, still kneeling on the ground. I don't wrench away from his hand, but I sit down and let us forget about my wrist, being held captive by his strong, massive hand.

"How long," I attempt to ask, starting to fiddle with my snare, but trying not to set it off. It was more of a demand, and not really a question.

He thinks for a moment, and I let him. I'm pretty sure that he's under a lot of pressure by the other Careers to get me to join their so called 'Pact'. He narrows his eyes then looks back at me smirking.

"As soon as possible," he says coolly.

I'm about to ask how that makes sense, but after I really think it through, it somehow makes sense.

"Um, okay… what happens if I don't join?" I ask. I don't know what brought me to ask this, or what part of me thought he'd actually answer truthfully. It scares me, how impulsive my mind can be. It's like I have a whole different mind, or persona separated from my body-

"You'll just have to wait and see, if that's what you want," he says as calmly as possible. I can't let my mind linger anymore- I have to keep it alert form now on… Now what did he say again?

"What?" I say and my voice cracks. He smirks again and says,

"You heard me,"

_Yeah, I did, but what did it mean?_ Ugh, never mind, Katniss. You can worry about that later.

"And what if I did join?"

"Well, let's just say your life wouldn't be hell in the arena," he responds quietly.

"It's going to be hell either way, Cato. You, me, everyone- we all know it," I declare, trying to hide my frustration.

"So what you're trying to say is you won't join us because there is going to be no difference if you are in an alliance with me or not?"

"I never said I wouldn't join you, but-"I start to object, but he cuts me off.

"Just think about it. Stick to your word, fire girl."

"Stop calling me that... Carrot!" I exclaim, and my lips start to crack a smile in realization of what just came out of my mouth. _I can't believe I just called him that!_

We both start to snicker, but quickly cover it up. That only results in more laughing and smirking, and soon enough, both of us are holding on to our bellies in the middle of laughing fits. I'm laughing so hard that I'm completely silent and tears are streaming down my face.

Once we calm down, which is about five minutes later, he finally says an actual sentence legibly. But he's grinning through the whole thing, so his words are a little unlinked.

"Suppose we tie some more knots?"

I giggle a little before nodding and we head off to the trainer for knowledge of knots that we don't know how to tie.

* * *

Cato's POV

* * *

"So I fell asleep in the tree," she says, while knotting her snare over and over again. I'm pretty sure she's not even paying attention anymore to it anymore, and I glance down at my own. It's knotted perfectly, and ready to be used when it needs to be. But I've taken it apart so many times I'm almost certain it's lost its purpose.

"You fell asleep _in a tree?_" I ask surprised. We both have our voices lowered, and we made sure that we weren't near any other tributes or trainers. And especially not near the Gamemakers.

"Of course, what do you expect me to do, wait frickin' seven hours for _a squirrel _to jump out in front of me?" she retorts, and I realize that I did expect her to wait that long.

"Um, what if I did…" I say awkwardly and she giggles. When she does that, I feel like... well, I can't exactly describe it, but I've been ignoring it for so long. And I sure as hell wasn't ready to admit it to her either.

"Anyways… when I fell asleep I was dreaming of the feast we would have that night if I shot a deer. It's nothing compared to what's here at the Capitol, but you know what district I'm from. If I recall, I think I drooled during my dream," she says, imitating herself as if it were actually happening at that moment. I laugh and urge her to continue the story.

"So, what happened?"

"I fell out of the tree," she says through clenched teeth and smirks at herself.

"Well, that's going to come in handy in the arena. When you fall out of a tree," I respond jokingly. God, it feels amazing to be able to tease somebody, and… well, to have someone to talk to. I guess I sort of liked her company.

"Oh, you said you had some questions to ask me, didn't you?" she says, changing the subject and raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah, I _had _questions. I don't think we should get into those now. We have, like, an hour and a half left. I wouldn't want "my people" worrying," I respond, trying not to get into my questions now. I don't really feel like bringing up serious topics now, when we're giddy and such.

"If you say-so, _Ca-to," _she says, making the words rhyme. I really want to ask her, but she's basically on Cloud Nine right now, but I can tell she did want to know what I want to ask her.

_I have to meet her somewhere, but there are no places where it's safe._

"Do you really want to know?" I ask. She considers this for a moment and then reassuringly responds with,

"We'll find the time eventually," then smiles lightly at me. I want to smile back, but I worry that the time she's referring to will be in front of all of Panem.

_God, I hope not._

"Are you sure we have time before… you know…," I say, hesitating.

_Cato, what is wrong with you? This girl's changing your mind. You have to kill her eventually, so why do this to yourself? _

_Oh, stop bickering. It's not like we're in love or anything._

My sub consciousness is yelling at me to shut her out, but I quickly dismiss the idea. It brings up a jumping sensation in my stomach, but I do my best to ignore it.

_What's happening to you?_

I scowl- now my mind is taking over my common sense? Then I realize that I have no control over the voice that is somehow inside of me, but I know that it isn't my head this time.

"Cato?" I hear a voice say. I look up and see her, Katniss, frowning at me and I quickly fix the scowl that was on my face this whole time.

"Um, sorry Kat… what were you saying?" I say as politely as I dare.

Her eyes drop down and they flutter for a second, out of what I think is confusion. She is taken aback by my behavior, I can tell- but she will never know the half of it.

"…Nothing, its fine," she says eventually. I look into her eyes and it looks like she's shutting _me _out. Those stormy grey eyes have started to develop their own rain clouds. I decide to go back to reality and even though it pains me to say goodbye, it happens.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" I say, trying not to break from my blank expression.

"Yeah," she says, still looking down.

"And maybe I'll get an answer by then?" I say hopefully, trying not to reveal too many feelings.

"Hm? Oh, um, yeah, maybe," she says. It looks like she's dazed but I decide to leave it alone and I rush off to find the others.

* * *

Katniss's POV

* * *

"Cato?" I ask again, and I'm getting worried about him. He looks up and his face is pulled tightly into a scowl, and I frown. _What? Did I say anything wrong?_

Then his face slides into his usual blank expression, but I could see the cockiness tinted behind it.

"Sorry Kat… what were you saying?" he says politely. It's like a robot is talking to me, or something unnatural, because he is displaying so many different emotions at the same time that it confuses me. But overall, the confusion is nothing compared to the overwhelming feeling that has taken over my mind, and it almost scares me- but I can't take it anymore. Not even the fact that he called me Kat could make me come back to my friendly mode.

"Nothing, its fine," I say, trying to avoid eye contact with him. Eventually, he finds my eyes and I try to hide my thoughts, like I did everyday back in District Twelve. It seems to work and my eyes flicker back down, trying to avoid that moment again. His eyes were nothing but determined, but if looks could kill, I would have been murdered about a thousand times over already.

Then I force myself to bring up the reminder that this is Cato's mind. It does this all the time, and everything about it is deceiving. I can't trust him like this. I just can't. I knew this was a bad idea.

_But you enjoyed it._

Again, that uncontrollable voice coming from a source other than my mind speaks up to me. I wish it would just go away, because there isn't going to be any psychologists in the arena. And I don't need a second personality, like Cato.

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" he says casually.

"Yeah," I say in my usual one word answers. He's never seen it before, so why not bring the rabbit out of the hat now?

"And maybe I'll get an answer by then?" he asks. I could sense a hint of hope in his voice at the end, but I shouldn't let that bother me. I speak then remember what he was referring to.

"Hm? Oh, um, yeah, maybe," I hesitate. What's with all this hesitating all of a sudden? I've never been this way before.

_What's happening to you?_

_Ugh, go away._

As if I was talking to Cato, he gets up and leaves to join the rests of the Careers, who crowd around him.

I don't know what's happening, at all, but all I can do is disassemble the snares by myself in silence.

* * *

**Remember to review! thanks for all the people that did :) i'll try to get another chapter up tomorrow.**


	8. Chapter 8

**srry i havent updated in a while. i started skl and yaa...**

**but heres chapter 8! remember to review guyssss!**

**-heyoimamockingjay**

* * *

*-Chapter 8: -*

"He _what?!_" Haymitch yells at dinner. Well, that went just fabulous. All I can hope is that he doesn't storm down to District Two's floor and start to chew out Cato and his mentor. And worst of all, force me to watch.

I stay quiet and look up at Haymitch, who is now standing up in his spot.

"He also said that I have to respond as soon as possible. I'm starting to think I should say no. you seem pretty mad, Haymitch," I say, mockingly innocent.

"Sweetheart, I'm not mad- it's just his mentor, Brutus. He has pure hatred for me straight to the bone. I'm surprised you got asked to join the Careers by his tribute. That's all," he says as if it's nothing.

"That's all? You stand up and yell out in disbelief, fuming, and that's all you can say?" Now it's my turn to yell.

"You know what- suppose I tell you and you'll sit right back down in that pretty little chair of yours," he snaps.

"Let's just wait and see. Fire away," I growl.

"I was mad- but mad at myself because I didn't realize how _stupid _to not say yes,"

Without thinking, I grab a butter knife and stab it right into the table. Everyone around me, except for Haymitch, gasps and I hear Effie scold, "That's Mahogany!"

I stand up saying, "I didn't say yes, but I didn't say no. but what I can tell you is that I have reasons for everything I do," and I give Haymitch a big toothy smile. Without excusing myself, I throw my napkin on my plate, head straight to my room and slam the door, making sure they all heard it.

I flop down on my bed and think about the crazy day I've had. I could hear all of them chattering and bickering to Haymitch, but I tried my best to tune them all out with my thoughts. No matter how much happened today, from Peeta explaining the bread to me showing up to Glimmer, the only thing I can think of is Cato.

His voice is stuck in my mind, just bouncing around, changing its tone from intimidating hissing to jokingly taunting. No matter what comes to mind, he's always there. This time, just writing about him about him won't help at all. I have to talk to someone, someone that will understand.

_But nobody understands, _my head takes charge of the situation again.

_Oh, stop it. You'll come up with something eventually, _says the voice other than my mind. I have no idea what's going on with me, but if I tell someone, I'm afraid they'll do something to me that will make me unable to return home to Prim and my mother again.

_Just think, what would make you feel better right now. Be true to yourself and don't be afraid to admit it, _it says again. What was with this voice? It's saying things I would never say, but I know that everything it says is right. It's like it knows me better than I do. But I try and do what it says, and I surprise myself even more.

_You should talk to Cato, _says my mind. _But indirectly. In some way that he won't know that you're talking to him._ But how do I do that? I can't just talk out loud. Someone might hear me, like Peeta or Haymitch. I'm starting to think this isn't such a good idea. _Just do it the same way you did it the first time._

I think back to what I did the night of the tribute parade, and then it dawns on me what the voice in my mind and the other voice are trying to tell me. They're telling me to write a secret letter to him.

I don't know what to think of this, but at the same time I sort of want to do it. There are a lot of things I want to say to Cato, but I could never bring myself to say it to his face. So I guess writing a letter would be a good thing to do.

I make my way toward the table with the pen and paper on it. I pick up the pen and I write,

_Dear Cato,_

But I can't write anymore. I just don't know where to start.

_Then start there, _says my mind… or the other voice… I don't even know which one is which now! But I take the advice and write it down.

_I don't even know where to start. Here I am writing a letter to you that you won't even see, and I'm still stumbling over my words._

I sit there and think of what to write, and then I'm jotting down sentence after sentence, and I don't even stop when my hand starts to hurt. When I'm done, I rip off the sheet from the notepad and I read what's on the paper.

_Dear Cato,_

_I don't even know where to start. Here I am, writing a letter to you that you won't even see, and I'm still stumbling over my words. Since there's no place else to start that makes sense, I think I'll just start at the beginning._

_When I first saw you, it was like getting struck by lightning. The first thing I saw was your eyes, and if looks could kill, I bet you I have already been murdered a thousand times over by just your eyes alone. They shot straight through me like a laser, and I was blinded for a second. It was like fighting for my life- I had no other choice but to fight back. So I made the mistake of staring straight back into your black holes, or your eyes._

_Ever since then, I couldn't get your eyes out of my mind. I tried so hard to distract myself from the thought of them, but they just stayed there. They locked themselves inside my brain and even now, they are present. But it's not just the hard, icy blue colour that stays in my mind. It's something else. _

_They had this look to them as if they were screaming a whole different message to me than you were portraying. They were actually portraying different messages. The one you were portraying, yes, but also there was this flit of sorrow and hurt. But what surprised me the most is that you seemed scared. Believe it or not, this scared _me. _You are a career, and you shouldn't be scared. You volunteered, and it was to bring pride to your district... This means killing at the risk of being killed. I never expected you to feel like this. I don't know if I'm the only one who knows this, but I feel like I owe you something by knowing this. From the past, I expect you to be the first one going for my head straight away in the arena. Because careers don't act like cowards. I know you aren't scared to die, but I want to know what this is. What you are hiding behind the killing machine I see before me. Please, don't feel like you're something you're not. If you're not up to this, don't be afraid to let it show. Just don't let them change you. _

_It may be too late to say this at this point, but you can still be yourself. Whoever you are._

_I want to see the real you, Cato. Before I die, the very last thing I want to see is you._

_I know I sound desperate now, but I only speak the truth. You seem to have different personalities, one for each group or each person. I want to know why this is, or why you want to do that. Sappy as it sounds, or inappropriate for the occasion, you are beautiful the way you are. So if the rest of them are aching to kill the twelve year olds we have as gruesomely as possible, let them feel that way. You are the leader, and they will act as you do. You are responsible for you, just remember that._

_Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour,_

_Katniss E. District 12_

I might have been a little repetitive in my writing, but I feel like I just had to let it all out. Something else is bugging at me, but now I don't have a clue of what it is.

I'm too tired to stay awake any longer, so I begin to get changed for bed. Right as I'm about to climb into bed, the letter seems a lot more important than it was. _Now what the hell am I supposed to do with that?_

The thought of actually bringing it to Cato comes up, but I quickly push it away. I will never know how he will react to it, and honestly, I'm not really keen on finding that out either.

At the last moment before I decide to put it in my pocket, I pick up the pen again, only to forget what I was about to write. Then, when it flashes again in my mind, I firmly grasp it and without thinking I jot it down at the end of the letter.

_Promise me you'll grab the bow and arrows before Glimmer can get her hands on it, and then we'll talk about the alliance. Don't let anyone touch the bow or the arrows except for yourself, but don't even think of using any of the arrows for anything. If you can find me in the arena, then you have yourself an extra ally. Have fun finding me- I hope you like climbing trees._

* * *

**i know its not much of an ending, but im sort of running out of ideas. i already have the roof scene planned out, but if you could PM or review any ideas, then that would be great.**

**LOTSA LOVE! warning- the next chpt might not be up until about a week from now :( but i will try to get writing  
REVIEW! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Omfg SOO SORRY I HAVENT UPDATED IN TWO WEEKS! I just went back to school and you know, have been caught up in school work. But I can't say I haven't worked on this and that i'm not proud of it! thank you to all my viewers and REviewers who took the time to read this (Well, at least some of it).  
WARNING: this next chapter has some Peeta/Katniss in it and if you start to think that there's something between them, there's not! (just to clear somethings up.)**

**READ ON GUYSSSSSSS! THIS IS GETTING GOOD! (but I mite end the story early, idk.)**

**-heyoimamockingjay**

* * *

*-Chapter9: We all have our Weaknesses-*

That night when I fall asleep, nightmares come at me full on making me toss and turn. It's almost like I'm trapped inside my dreams and I can't wake up. When I actually do wake up, I'm sweating like there's no tomorrow, and I taste blood in my mouth. I must have bitten the inside of my cheek while I was sleeping.

I feel refreshed, and ready to enter my second day of training, but my eyes still feel a little heavy. Nothing comes up in my mind that seems worth thinking about, or worrying about, so I nonchalantly get dressed into the clothes that have been laid out for me, identical to the ones I wore yesterday. I try splashing water in my face to try and relieve the layer of heaviness over my eyes, but it does no use.

I walk to the dining room, empty-minded, and there's no one there besides Peeta and a few Avoxes. It's always been a little awkward between Peeta and I, since Haymitch told us to pretend to be friends. But it hasn't just been for that reason. It was also for that one rainy, winter day four years ago…

I join Peeta at the table in silence, which is immediately broken by his voice saying, "Hi,"

"Hi," I say automatically responding.

"You know, it would actually be helpful to your chances of survival if you listened to Haymitch sometime," he launches straight into the type of conversation I would usually avoid in the mornings, unless I was with Gale.

"Mhmm," I mumble, trying not to carry it out.

"He did win this thing, you know," he persists.

"Oh, you don't say," I respond sarcastically, keeping my eyes on the plate I was filling with my breakfast.

He gives a sigh, signifying that he was giving up trying to carry out the topic, then starts to say,

"Look, Katniss, it's fine if you don't want to be friends-"

"Well then, you read me perfectly," I cut him off.

"I just thought we could actually have a few conversations, you know, like, actual, real ones, just once in a while," he finishes, ignoring me.

"You told me to listen to Haymitch, right? Well I can at least tell you off the top of my head that he said to _pretend _to be friends. And honestly, I think it would be _very _helpful to my chances of survival," I get out, hoping that it will end the conversation.

"I wasn't talking about that. But would it kill you to actually say something to me that isn't an insult?" he starts to raise his voice. I don't want to draw attention by alarming the others that we've started yelling at each other, so I say as calmly as possible, "In the end, it should,"

Thankfully, he leaves it alone, but he looks like he could say a lot more. _At last Peeta, you get my message._

The rest of our meal is uneventful, and is spent in utter silence, and this time, the awkwardness doesn't bother me.

After what feels like forever, Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, and Portia walk out all at the same time, chatting amongst each other.

"Good morning, you two! Today is going to be a big, big, big day!" Effie chirps at us

"Morning Effie," Peeta and I mutter in monotone, picking at our food.

"What's wrong with you two, woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Haymitch bellows.

"No, Haymitch. I'm just not hungry this morning. Please excuse me," Peeta says abruptly. He stands to leave and everyone goes silent.

"Sorry to disturb your meal, everyone. As you were," he says, almost in a Capitol accent, and I can tell he's mocking them. He meets my eyes as he leaves, and there's this hardness to them that I never noticed was there before. They seemed strangely familiar, like I had seen them somewhere before, though. Somewhere recent…

_Cato._

His eyes lock in my mind once again as Peeta turns away to wherever he was going, most likely to his room. Then I take this into consideration, and then it hits me: _Was he actually headed to his room?_

I excuse myself out of curiosity to see where Peeta is going, saying that I'm going to have a talk with him- which was partly true, but not about what others would expect. As I leave, I hear Effie say, "What's getting in to them these days?"

I follow Peeta until he gets to the glass doors of a huge penthouse balcony. He slips through them and I follow, trying to be as quiet as I can. He goes into a expertly camouflaged door by the corner and starts to climb up a never-ending set of stairs ascending towards the roof. _So that's where he's headed, _I think to myself. _How did he know about the roof already?_

Just when I thought my legs were going to give out, we reach the apex of our journey. I gaze out at the voracious complex before me. It's at least five times bigger than the penthouse balcony, but looks exactly identical to it. There's a railing leading all the way around the stomach-high ledge, and a translucent pillar has been constructed in the middle of the space, providing shade when it's needed. I take a few steps forward and trip on nothing (somehow possible, but Gale's done it before in the Hob. I would try so hard not to laugh, or crack a smile), landing on my knees. I let out a sharp gasp, and Peeta turns around to discover me, but with no readable expression on his face.

"You okay?" he asks. His voice sounds like he cares but he's trying hard to hide it.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I respond, getting up and brushing myself off. "Look, I really didn't mean all the things I said earlier. It's just… I don't really connect very well with other people. It's not that I don't want to, or I can't, it's that-

"I know," Peeta says impatiently.

"How-" I begin, but he cuts me off once more.

"All the boys at school talk about you. It's kind of hard to miss everything that goes on about you,"

"Why me? Why not Madge, or any of the other girls at school? I'm nothing compared to them," I counter.

"Well, they think you're… badass- literally. Some of them won't shut up about your ass, and the rest of the talk is about how you can hunt really well in the woods and how you have the guts to go out there alone. Beyond district premises," he says shyly. "I've heard at least ten of them say, 'She has no idea. The effect she can have',"

"Who heard about my trips to the woods? How'd they know I was hunting?" I ask suspiciously. The only person that would know that is Gale, or Madge. But they wouldn't spread that.

_Would they?_

"Rumors are carried by haters, spreaded by fools, and accepted by idiots. But I guess that one happened to be true," Peeta says.

"Well, you've proved yourself worthy of a non-idiot in my book, Peeta. Congratulations," I respond. I don't really want to talk about rumors here, where I know I am going to die. In less than two weeks.

"Three cheers for me," he says with a smile.

"Yeah, from yourself," I say, giving a light laugh. _Snap out of it Katniss. He might have spreaded the rumors. _

He strides over to the railing and I join him, looking down at the Capitol citizens below. All of them, wondering around, having now where to go, just waiting for another twenty four teenagers to come in and hack at each other, until twenty three have bled out cold, deprived of their young, beating hearts. And we're next.

"Thinking about your family?" Peeta asks, breaking the silence in the air.

"I was getting there," I respond, truthfully. "I am really sorry about earlier. I just- well, I have Prim back home, and my mother. I can't let her tune out again. And then Gale," He flinches slightly when I say Gale's name.

"Just know that I have no hope or chance of going home," he changes the subject.

"Sure you do," I try to encourage him. Then I realize the truth in what he just said.

"Even if I did, what would I go home to, my bitch of a mother?"

"So you're saying that you want to die?" I ask confusedly.

"No, not exactly. I'm almost guaranteed that I'm to die in the next two weeks, but when I do, I don't want to make a monster of myself, or play as a puzzle piece in their little game, you know?" he confuses me again with this, and I try to make sense with what he said. He notices this and continues,

"I don't know how else to put it… but I can't help but think of ways to show the Capitol that they don't own me. That I'm, well, more than just a piece in their games. When I die, I still want to be the same old Peeta I was since the day I was born. I mean, what do I have to lose? They've already done enough to torture us."

Wow. That was quite a speech. But part of it still didn't make sense to me.

"Peeta, we were all born citizens of Panem. We were all born to belong to the Capitol," I say irritated.

"No, we belong to District Twelve. We will be citizens of it, and therefore we belong to it," he tries to get me back on track again.

"Okay, now you've definitely lost me," I respond, defeated.

"Forget it," he mutters back.

We stand there, and then he asks,

"What's happening with you and Two?"

My heart jumps at the mentioning of him. _Tell him the truth, _says the voice that I thought was gone.

_No, _says my mind. _He doesn't deserve to know._

"Nothing. He just wanted to talk. That's all," I say as calmly as possible, hoping that he'll just brush it off.

"I don't mean to be nosy or anything, but I think you should keep your distance. He doesn't seem like the best of friends," he advises me.

"How would you know? You haven't even met him, or know what he's like," I respond, a bit too spontaneously.

"Katniss, everyone in that training centre knows what Cato's like. And everyone knows that you are oblivious to it," he warns.

"I'm not completely oblivious to it. I knew something was strange-"

"I'm telling you Katniss, he's not the one to trust,"

This infuriates me. He can't be telling me who to trust- He doesn't even know me! "Well then, Peeta, tell me who to trust if you think you know so much!" I say raising my voice.

"Katniss, I didn't mean to-"

"To what- to make me mad? To work me up? You don't even know me-" I start to yell, but one thing stops me, and takes me completely by surprise.

Peeta's lips crash down onto mine, in a desperate act to try and calm me down. I break away and stumble back, spitting out the taste of him from my mouth as best as I can.

"What the hell, Peeta!" I shout at him. He blushes and looks at the ground. "Sorry. I just have had enough of yelling in my life,"

"Oh," is all I can say.

"If you want to continue what you had with Two, then go ahead, who am I to be making a decision for someone I don't even know, right?" he asks coldly and turns to leave.

"Peeta- wait, I didn't mean to hurt you- Peeta!" I say trying to get him to turn around again. I still needed to ask him one more thing. When he reaches the door to the stairwell, it's clear he wasn't going to turn around.

"Why were you warning me to stay away from him? From Cato?" I blurt out.

He stops in his tracks and pauses, as if he were thinking. Then he turns around and stares at me directly, with the saddest eyes I have ever seen.

"For your protection."

* * *

"Dismissed," Says Atala.

All the tributes wander off to different stations, and once again, the Careers make a beeline to the weapons. I decide that I've had enough of archery already, even though I could use the practice. The bow was different, after all.

I feel week from my talk with Peeta this morning on the roof, so I decide on going to the edible plant station. I see Foxface is there (which is what I call the girl from District Five) and I take my place at the screen next to hers. Neither of us seems to want to strike up a conversation, and as far as I know, that's fine by me.

Peeta seems to be living it up at the camouflage station, so I steer clear of that station. I glance over to the weapons to see Clove hitting target after target with her knives, the boy from District One piercing the plastic dummies' hearts with the sharp tips of his spears, and Glimmer- poor little Glimmer, who has been shamed out of archery by yours truly- has decided to stick with an axe. She's not too good at that either, but it was something.

I glance briefly at Cato, to see him slice the heads of four mannequins off with one swift slice. I imagine him doing that in the arena to innocent, little tributes and it sends shivers down my spine. He catches me watching and I quickly give a small smile then turn it off again, making sure he was the only one to see it. He winks at me, and it looks genuine, but I know nothing is ever genuine when it comes to Careers.

Right before lunch, just when I decide to have some "fun" with Glimmer at the axe station, I notice the girl from eleven from the corner of my eye. I think her name is Rue, I'm not sure, but whenever I see her, I see Prim. Both with names of delicate flowers. Neither capable of throwing a knife and hitting the target from fifteen feet away. Well, maybe Rue, but she's had some practice. Prim would never do it in a million years. _Unless I didn't volunteer._

Cato is in front of her, with his back turned on her and a large knife with a squiggly long blade. She walks by it, and silently takes it off a stand, where it perched menacingly. Cato is too absorbed in his hand-to-hand combat training to notice, and Rue walks around and expertly climbs onto the ladder that was supposed to challenge you by twisting and turning unevenly. She lays down on it at the top, looking down at Cato, twirling the tip of the knife with a mischievous look on her face. She makes eye contact with me and holds the knife in one hand. In the other, she counts down from five with her fingers, and when she gets to one, I look below her to see Cato turned around, with a dazed look on his face. He looks around to see who took it, but what he does next alarms me. He grabs the boy from District Six by the shoulders and jerks him into facing him.

"Hey- did you take my knife?" he says angrily. The boy looks as dazed as Cato was when he didn't see his knife. "No! No- I-I-I-"

"Where's my knife?" Cato yells. His face is starting to get all red. Before the boy can even make a sound, Cato hollers at the top of his lungs, "WHERE DID YOU PUT MY KNIFE?" he pushes the tribute back, and hard. He stumbles back and tries to respond, "I told you, I-"

"I know you have my knife, Six. And once I find it, I'm going straight for your throat!" he fumes. By now, Peacekeepers have started to grab hold of Cato and haul him out of the gym. But Cato (being a Career) tries to fight back, and manages to wrench out of their grip.

When they finally get a firm grasp of him (with the help of Atala and two other trainers), he hisses loudly at the other tribute, "This isn't over yet. You're going to be my first target in the arena," and he finally gives up the straining and lets the peacekeepers take him away.

He meets my eyes as he turns around, and there's this hint of… not really sadness, but… apology. He almost grimaces, but keeps from doing so by turning back to where they were taking him and looking over his shoulder and calling to the boy, "I'm coming for you!" and they carry him out, slamming the doors behind them.

All the tributes have noticed from the get-go who took the knife, and they all seem to be smiling to each other, some even laughing, as Rue climbs down and exclaims, "Poor kitty! I hope he has fun in the arena!"

Even though what she said was smart, I'm still in shock. I didn't know Cato would ever do that, judging from the person he was yesterday. I was completely wrong. But now, I think I'm starting to get the picture. He is confused and on the borderline of insanity and reality… whatever that is.

He has a weakness, but I don't think he's ever had one. Being weak is new to him. Nobody can read it, but I'm the only one who knows it. But then, the thought hits me like a knife thrown from Clove in the back.

I'm his weakness.

* * *

**hope you liked it! I promise I will try to get the chapter up in the next week or so! remember to review- that's my weakness! ;)**

**3 **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: so here's chapter ten! hope you guys like it! I've already started writing the next chapter, and i can tell you for sure that there is a "record amount" of Katniss/Cato in it! yayyy! so read on and review! i havent been getting much in the past few chapters, but hopefully we can get more this chapter and the next one (once it's up)? thanks guysss!**

**-heyoimamockingjay**

* * *

*-Chapter 10: Never too Late-*

Cato's POV

"Seventeen!"

I grit my teeth as I hear the crack of the whip come down hard on my exposed back. Fifty fucking lashes. Just for pushing that scrawny little tribute. And yet I still don't know who took my knife.

It's all I can do to not cry out in pain as the whip hits my back for the eighteenth time. I know I've trained for the Hunger Games my whole life, but that was nothing compared to the torture I'm going through now. I've never known what it's like, but now it's my turn to suffer.

The only thing that keeps me going is the thought of Katniss in my head. Lately, I've developed the feelings for her that are… 'Different' from the feelings I had for other girls back home. It feels like I've known her forever when really, we've only had one real conversation. I have no clue what's happening to me, but in a way, I sort of like it.

But the times when it comes back to bite me in the ass is what pisses me off the most. And it may just be life threatening when it comes to the arena. I don't tense up as much when I'm around her, and I feel like I don't have to put on the heartless, brutal façade I've been trained to live behind my whole life. Yeah, sure, it may be a good thing while we're having private conversations, but it also happens in the most awkward times, especially when I'm around the pack. Clove, being clove, will probably kill/torture me to death when she finds out about this, and Glimmer- well, let's just say I'm neutral when it comes to snapping her neck if she comes at me with an axe. Marvel will just be jealous, but then I have to remember that the more they get to know me, the more likely they are to notice my behavior. And that doesn't really put the odds in mine or Katniss's favours.

"Don't give up now, boy! Ye' still got thirty more to go!" the peacekeeper, Roman, says with a heavy accent.

I cling tighter to the pole I'm tied to, bracing for the next painful hour to come.

I really should ask Katniss about it all. It has to happen sometime soon and I sure as hell can't wait for the Games to come around.

"Thirty nine! Ye'r almost there, boy!" Roman announces.

Why did she volunteer? If she's going to die, why bother saving your sister? _No, Cato, stop it, she's not the one who's going to die._

Oh, shut the hell up, whoever you are.

Why did she lash out at me when I called her Catnip? It was just a simple nickname I came up with, just like the Capitol calling her 'Girl on Fire'. What's with her?

"Forty! Make these last ones count, mate!"

Oh, Katniss. I wish you could answer my questions. If only I knew a way to talk to you privately.

"Forty-one! Nine more, boy!"

_Cato, I know a way. Calm down, listen to me, and trust your instincts._

So that's what this is? My instinct? Are you fucking kidding me?

_Just trust me, Cato. It'll be alright._

Ugh, fine. If only I could control you.

"Forty-two!"

"Just make it quick, will you? All at once, the final eight," I grunt and pant, desperate for the pain to end.

"Then ten more, boy! Are ye' sure ye' wanna go with it?"

"Yes! Whatever it takes to get it done!" I demand.

"Okay, here we go!" Roman yells.

The whip comes down even harder for the next ten lashes, and I actually cry out in pain. Then Katniss's stormy, grey eyes find their way into my thoughts, and the pain slowly dies down. Relief takes over my body when the whipping stops, but then I realize that the cloth tying me to the pole is still digging into my wrists and knees.

"Are you going to untie me or not?" I ask, pulling together the little strength I have left.

A figure appears from behind Roman and interrupts him just as he is about to respond.

"If you think they're finished with you, then you're dead wrong, Cato," the voice hisses.

The voice could only belong to one person: Brutus.

"Fifteen lashes. And don't make them the dainty ones you always do. Put some force into it," he says casually.

"What the hell for?" I yell at him. This is nonsense! Doesn't he see that I've gone through enough?

"Oh, you know, just a few things that I've "noticed" in the past few days," he responds calmly.

"What could possibly be worse than this that I've done in the past two days?" I fume.

"Your decisions, Cato. I would expect more!"

"Holy fuck, what crawled up your ass and died, Brutus? Spit it out of your goddamn throat already!" This time, I'm just about ready to rip the cloth from the pole and head straight for his neck.

"Okay, fine, if you really must know, the tribute from twelve has gotten pretty far up there, unless you do something to get rid of her!" he yells back at me.

"I will. I promise-"

"Oh, you better. Or what's going to be crawling up your ass is my foot!"

"Well, I won't have enough energy to do it unless you let me be," I grunt.

"It's not that simple, Cato. There's something else I have to discuss with you in private. Gentlemen," Roman and the guy with the whip leave to give Brutus and I some privacy.

"You've taken an interest in fire girl, I see. Why so intrigued?" he asks.

"None of your business, asshole," I growl at him.

"No, I'm being honest here. Why the interest in an underdog? What's the point?"

"I said you don't need to know!" I raise my voice even more.

"Well, I need to know, or else I can't help you,"

"She c-can shoot. It's like she's t-trained," I lie.

"Hm, is that it? Then if you're going to get rid of her you're going to get your hands on every single bow and arrow in that goddamn arena and you're going to snap it in half, smash it to hell, or whatever you have to do to take her strength out of that arena. Got it?"

"But she can tie knots. She could just make her own bow-"

"This brings me to my next topic. Why in fuck's sake were you with her for the whole afternoon session yesterday?" he cuts me off.

"In case you haven't noticed already, I want her in the pact. You've had your Hunger Games- this is mine. I'm going to make decisions for me, myself, and I. you can't tell me what to do," I snap.

"I'm your mentor- that's what I'm supposed to do!"

"No, you're supposed to line me up sponsors!"

He lowers his voice, "Then get rid of the little runt and I'll start doing my job. Got it?" then he calls back Roman and the guy with the whip. "Twenty lashes on his right shoulder," he orders.

"You only said fifteen!" Now I feel like an immature toddler, pouting over everything, even if this was worth it.

"Did I?" Brutus says with sarcasm and venom pooling out of his voice. He smirks unforgivingly, and stalks back into the training center. When he opens the door, the only thing I see is Katniss from a distance, looking at me with intense worry on her face and then the door closes, interrupting my lock on her eyes.

"That's only two lashes, boy! Live up to yer mentor's standards!" then he whispers to me, "I'll cut you five lashes, mate. The dirty bastard's off his bonkers," I nod, grimacing at him.

"Aye, thirteen more! Don't make it easy for him!"

The lashes feel like they've dropped a bomb on my back, and when I'm just about to lose consciousness, the anonymous voice speaks to me once more.

_Don't give up just yet, Cato. You can still talk to Katniss. It's never too late._

"Final seven, boy! Have fun with ye' scars!"

_Just let me do the talking. I know exactly what you should say._

"Six!"

_Tell her how much you liked your conversation._

"Five!"

_Tell her how long you've wanted to talk to her._

"Four!"

_Tell her what you like best about her._

"Three!"

_Tell her how you've never met anyone like her._

"Two!"

_Tell her how much she means to you. _

"One!"

_Tell her how much you love her._

The blood and sweat drips down my back, but I can barely feel the tickling sensation that I was anticipating over the realization of it all. I'm weak and exposed when I'm around Katniss, and I can't keep her off my mind, ever. When I showed her how to tie a noose with her fingers, every time I touched her fingers was like heaven and hell. It was like realizing the bad things I had done in my life, the cruelness of the Capitol, and the reality of the Hunger Games. It was all I could do to not lace her fingers into mine and stay like that forever, but all good things must come to an end.

I've never had a weakness, but now I've found one. I don't care if it kills me, but if it leaves, then there will be nothing left of me.

Shit, Cato, stop acting like such a pussy! You're better than this, and you sure as hell don't need that trash of a tribute.

Dear brain/mind/head, I have two words for you: Fuck off. Sincerely Cato.

_I love Katniss Everdeen. And nobody can change that._

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**Muahahahaha. so Cato is giving in to the voice of reason... or is it? tell me what you think in a review or a PM! Stay tuned!**


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